1) At the INSS, Tammy Caner analyses ‘The Misleading Reports of the UN Over Famine in Gaza’.
“Since the beginning of the war, the UN has been releasing reports and updates regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, showing a dire picture of a shortage of humanitarian aid, a severe nutritional crisis, and even the spread of famine in the area. A close examination of these reports, based on the UN’s own clarifications, shows that they portray an inaccurate and partial picture of the aid entering the Gaza Strip. The reports are based on incomplete data from sources in Gaza and disregard significant portions of aid shipments entering the Strip as well as the complex situation on the ground. These reports have been used as a basis for allegations that Israel is preventing the entry of humanitarian aid in order to starve the population of the Gaza Strip, along with severe accusations of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even genocide.”
2) The Alma Center asks ‘Is UNIFIL Doomed?’.
“Since October 8, when Hezbollah began firing on northern Israel, the Iranian proxy terror army has fired from close proximity to UNIFIL and Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) positions as cover for attack, hoping the IDF would be reluctant to fire back. At the same time, UNIFIL soldiers are still in their positions, where they are exposed to the risks of crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, discussions to renew UNIFIL’s mandate have traditionally been accompanied by the raising of issues that appear detached from the reality on the ground, like the need for improved coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces – themselves increasingly under Hezbollah influence – while ensuring UNIFIL’s so-called operational independence and freedom of movement along the Blue Line border separating Lebanon from Israel.”
3) Writing at Newsweek, John Spencer explains why ‘Vilifying Israel’s Use of 2,000-Pound Bombs Only Ends Up Costing More Lives’.
“The current debate over the use of 2,000-pound bombs is part of a much larger fight over the use of all bombs in urban areas. It can be traced back years to the creation of a massive human rights advocacy coalition, led by Human Rights Watch, established in 2011. This coalition sought to have all bombs, missiles, artillery, and mortars banned from use in any urban area, termed “populated areas,” no matter the context, situation, or even if a military was able to evacuate all the civilians from the area.”
4) At the Jerusalem Post, Amir Bohbot reports on the IDF’s uncovering of a ‘trove of Hamas secrets’.
“Some documents also revealed the corruption within Hamas, showing how they not only accumulated assets but also used them. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) apartments were registered in the name of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif’s wife.
Apartments of Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas head Yahya Sinwar’s brother, were found to be received from UNRWA and then rented to Palestinians, according to rental contracts in possession of Military Intelligence. Documentation of Hamas operatives working for UNRWA was also found.”
5) MEMRI reports on ‘Terror Organizations Consolidating Their Control Over Tulkarm, Tubas In Northern West Bank, Undermining Control Of Palestinian Authority’.
“The Tulkarm and Tubas governorates in the northern West Bank have lately become hotspots of terrorist activity against Israel, a situation that undermines the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in those areas, as has already happened in the governorates of Jenin and Nablus. This process – in which militias comprising fighters from multiple Palestinian organizations, including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, gain strength and engage in escalating terror against Israel while undermining the security control of the PA on the ground – began before the outbreak of the Gaza war. But since then it has steadily increased, and in the recent months Hamas and other organizations have even been threatening to carry out attacks in the West Bank similar to Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel.”
6) At WINEP, Michael Knights discusses the target of Israel’s recent strike in Yemen.
“On July 20, Israel responded to a deadly Houthi drone attack in Tel Aviv with heavy airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeida, destroying most of the site’s oil storage tanks. On one hand, this targeting choice reflects crucial gaps in the international community’s policy toward the group: namely, the failure to implement UN sanctions on the Houthis or enforce U.S. sanctions aimed at keeping Iran from providing oil products as a valuable form of terrorist financing.”
7) At the Fathom Journal, John Ware provides a critical examination of ‘7 October and the Alt-Media’.
“In 2019, the Community Security Trust showed how UK based alt-media accounts and networks of Labour-supporting Twitter accounts promoted, endorsed and spread the idea that allegations of antisemitism against Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party were fake news. Now a number of UK and US based alt-media outlets have been aggressively trying to show that allegations of widespread rape by Hamas and other armed groups are also fake.”
